Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 28.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,721 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in NRG Energy were worth $1,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in NRG Energy by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,619 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 662 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In related news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total transaction of $7,725,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,563,471.50. This represents a 47.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NRG. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays set a $197.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $167.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $151.80.

NRG Energy Trading Up 0.8%

NRG Energy stock traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $162.79. 9,662,378 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,971,656. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $141.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.02. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.11 and a 52-week high of $168.57.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $1.90. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.28 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 73.78%. The company's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.39%.

About NRG Energy

NRG Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through Texas; East; West/Services/Other; Vivint Smart Home; and Corporate Activities segments. The company produces and sells electricity generated using coal, oil, solar, and battery storage; natural gas; and a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions.